Contractor agrees to resume work

ISLAMABAD – The contractor has agreed to take back the notice of contract cancellation of Kashmir Highway Mega Project (section two), after successful negotiations between the construction firm and Capital Development Authority (CDA).According to sources, the CDA awarded the contract of construction of 8.67-kilometer 10-lane highway from Golra Morr to Peshawar Morr in 2011. The project was to be completed in 2013 but it has been delayed due to non-shifting of the services and non-payment of due to the contractor, the sources revealed.The contract was awarded in Rs1.7 billion and 28 per cent of the work has been completed on the project. The construction firm has not yet been given Rs98 million as mobilisation advance, while other bills of Rs170 million of the construction work completed are also still due, the sources said.According to a clause of the contract, if the CDA did not pay the bills within 28 days, the contractor could cancel the contract. Therefore, the contractor of the section two sent a notice to the CDA to cancel the contract but the civic authority officials held talks with the construction company officials to carve some way out of the situation.Member Engineering, Sanaullah Amaan, during the negotiations, assured the construction company officials to pay Rs30 million immediately and Rs80 million till November 30, the sources said, adding the contractor agreed to take back the notice. Meanwhile, a large number of kiosk owners, in blatant violation of the rules of the Capital Development Authority (CDA), have encroached upon the state land in different sectors of the Federal Capital.The allottees have encroached upon the land beyond the approved 10X10 size of kiosks by setting up additional shops, sheds and huts. The owner of a kiosk, situated close to the I-9 Police Station, has grabbed the CDA land by setting up sheds, huts and car parking to enhance his business. The small kiosk has been turned into a big restaurant where a large number of customers can be seen buying cooked food.The owner has also made several huts for ‘families’ and placed ‘charpais’ for their customers, besides setting up a big car parking on the state land. Another kiosk allottee in I-10 Markaz has also encroached upon some parts of a nearby park. Some of the restaurant owners have even set up stalls on the busy footpaths and open spaces creating problems for the pedestrians.Similarly, a person, who has been allotted a kiosk in the greenbelt between Sabzi Mandi and I-10/1 Sector, has also set up a tyre shop and a hotel on the state land. The owner of a tea stall in the greenbelt near the gas pump has also encroached upon the government land. When contacted, a CDA official said that a high level committee had already been set up by the Chairman in order to purge the Federal Capital of encroachments. He said that notices had been issued to around 500 allottees of kiosks for violating the rules. A ban has also been imposed on the allotment of kiosks, he added.